Burdens of the Raikou
by Professional Ninja
Summary: Raikou Saeko is just your normal 15 year old kunoichi who has something to prove. You don't screw with the Raikou clan. During the Kyuubi attack, Saeko's clan is reduced to almost nothing, so after something terrible happened to her team when she was 14, she comes back to the life of a kunoichi with Team 7 one year later with one goal on her mind: restore her reputation. Swearing.


_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters except my OCs_

**A/N: So I understand that not a lot of people like to read OC stories, especially if they are a Mary-Sue or if their story takes up a chunk of the plot, but I decided to have a bash at it, except without the 'Almost Perfect' character. I would appreciate some opinions and suggestions as to whether or not my OC should, for example, get the Cursed Seal or become friends with a certain character.**

**I would also really appreciate it if someone could design a cover for this story, the only thing it would need it to have is the Raikou clan symbol, which is described in the chapter, but other than that it could have anything else you think would fit. I will give credit to the person who designs it and sends me a link.**

_Thinking_

"Talking."

**"Jutsu."**

**Prologue**

**Normal P.O.V**

The Raikou clan compound was quiet that night, even though the residence was full of members, that was because most were not there. Right now, all those who were capable were defending Konohagakure from the Kyuubi. The children, elderly and women who were not kunoichi were staying inside the main building of the compound while the shinobi and kunoichi assisted in the fight against the enemy, however it was a losing battle, the Kyuubi was far too strong for any of them to handle. The Raikou clan weren't the most powerful clan in the village, that title belonged to the Hyūga and the Uchiha, however that didn't mean that they were cast aside and forgotten about, oh no, they had quite a big influence on the Leaf Village. The clan's symbol was pretty basic, it was a simple black circle with a horizontal line going through it and sticking outside it a bit at either end with a smaller circle in the middle. There is some hate between the Raikou and the Hyūga, mainly because the latter believe that the former copied their main jutsu, the **Jūken**, because the signature jutsu of the Raikou is rather similar. Raikou Ikkaku was running towards the clan compound, dreading what was to come. His brother, the Head of the family, had been killed right in front of him while saving a little girl and her mother from the beast's claws, therefore he had to go and make sure his sister-in-law and niece were safe.

As he passed the rest of the village, he noticed that there was rubble, smoke and fire everywhere, his clothes were also coated in blood, some of it was his and some of it wasn't. His once clean and mid-length deep sky blue hair was messy and has a layer of dirt and sweat and his body ached from all the strain he was putting on it. As he reached the gates of where he lived, he was relieved to notice that most of it hadn't been touched and that it seemed that no one had been injured during the time he was gone. Ikkaku continued towards the place he knew everyone else was staying hidden, always keeping an eye out for the Kyuubi, it could attack at any moment. He quietly opened a large door and sighed in relief at the sight, everyone was okay, only scared but slightly happier to see that he was okay. "How is everyone?" the man asked. A woman with the same signature colour of hair of the clan stepped forward and hugged him tightly, crying into his shoulder as the rest of the Raikou members quietly sobbed with her, it was a terrible day that they wished would be over soon.

"We're okay, but what about you? You look horrible and where's Makarov? Where's my husband?" the woman's name was Ikane, her moss green eyes were filled with concern as she took in the sight of her daughter's uncle. Ikkaku didn't know what to say, how was he supposed to her the already upset female that the one she loved was dead, slaughtered by the very creature that still terrorized the village? Just as he was about to reply, a small tug of his clothes brought his attention to a small girl that just came up to his thighs, innocent orbs of indigo stared up into his own light brown ones and his heart broke, it was impossible, he couldn't tell them.

"He's still fighting and he told me to get everyone out of her, it isn't safe anymore, you have to go underground."

"Why isn't it safe anymore, Ojisan?"

"Because, sukoshi Saeko, the mean fox may come here, and that isn't good so your Ojisan is going to take you all somewhere safe," as he finished explaining it to Raikou Saeko, three Jōnin appeared at the door, bowed and one of the began to speak.

"Raikou-sama, we have been ordered by the Sandaime to escort your clan in groups three so you will not be noticed by the Kyuubi," Ikkaku hesitated for a moment, could he trust the lives of his clan, his family in the hands of three other men? It was an order from the former Hokage, so could he refuse? A sudden movement in the ground alerted him to current threat, he had no choice but to accept and split them up into three, the first group would take the west route through the village towards an underground bunker, the second group would take the north route towards the main gate outside the village and the last group would take the east route towards the Hokage mountain where they would take the high ground advantage and hide. The older man, the woman and the little girl went with the high ground group of eleven people, most were women who did not have any ninja training. It took them a while to get to their destination, passing injured who they had to leave behind and destroyed buildings possibly with people still inside but they finally made it up the mountain, they had reached their goal and now they waited. It seemed like years to the survivors before all the conflict ended, but in actual fact it had only been a few hours. The death total was in the thousands and the injured was even more, the attack had struck a giant blow to Konoha's defences, any village could now attack and claim it because without a leader, who would stop the panicking? Thankfully, Sarutobi Hiruzen took the Hokage hat once more and got everything into order and in a matter of days, all who were able helped in the rebuilding of their village. Although sadly their beloved Yondaime was gone, once they were told that Namikaze Minato had sealed the beast inside a newborn child, they directed their anger and hatred towards said little boy, Uzumaki Naruto.

Little three year old Saeko and her mother, Ikane, were still mourning over the loss of their husband/Otousan, Ikkaku had to put aside his emotions so he could take the title as Head of the Raikou clan and see how many of his family had survived. Devastatingly enough, only his group and four other had made it, making the total amount of members fifteen, that was less than a third of what it was before. Of course, the Hyūga were satisfied with this number, the less of them the better, they no longer used their influences to send the Raikou on suicidal missions, hoping that they would be killed off sooner or later. When Saeko was five, she overheard her Ojisan and Okaasan discussing something, it was about her future and what they wanted to do with her.

"Ikane, we have to send her to the Academy, it's what Makarov would have wanted."

"But if she becomes a kunoichi, then she will die! It's dangerous and there are only so little of us left."

"I know that, but there are only five of us who are ninja, including me, so we need more people to help defend our clan."

"But she is the heir, what if she does get killed?"

"Then... we need to make a new heir."

_What are they talking about? Are they going to... replace me?_

Thoughts swam around in the girl's mind, her Okaasan and Ojisan were going to replace her, but why? And why are they talking about her being killed? Was she going to die?

* * *

It was now the seventh of June, exactly a month before the young female's birthday and a month before she was going to start her first day at the ninja academy. She couldn't say she was excited, in fact, she was dreading it, ever since the day of the Kyuubi attack, she had limited her contact with people and only spoke when she was being spoken to. The black scarf she wore was loosely wrapped around her neck and the ends came down over her shoulders and half-way down her torso, it was given to her by her father when she was born and when she was a baby she was always seen holding it and hugging it when she slept, it was like Saeko's own security blanket. When the time came, the girl was even more depressed than usual, her classmates were loud and obnoxious, the only exceptions being a calm Hyūga boy and a quiet Aburame girl. All the lessons were easy to the Raikou so when it came to graduation, she passed with flying colours, therefore at the age of twelve, the girl had changed a little bit. She no longer mourned over her father, nor did she isolate herself as much, however her look had changed quite a bit. Saeko still wore the black scarf, but she had cut her unique coloured hair to her shoulders and tied the top part into a pony-tail, she also wore a long-sleeved dark red jacket that ended just below her chest and was always open with the clan symbol on the back, a white shirt underneath it, white trousers with a short piece of dark cloth over them and dark red shinobi shoes that ended just below her knees. She also wore her hitai-ate around her left thigh, just above her kunai pouch. It was time to find out the teams they would be in, so as their sensei read out the names, most of them were on the edge of their seats in anticipation.

"... Team 3 will be Inuzuka Katsu, Akimichi Renji and Aburame Orihime, your Jōnin sensei will be Kazeneko Miyuki. Team 4 will be Raikou Saeko," that got her attention, " Hyūga Daichi and Yamanaka Akane, your Jōnin sensei will be Yabuki Hideyoshi."

_The Yamanaka I could understand since our abilities could help each other, but the Hyūga? Are they trying to get us to kill each other?_

* * *

Hideyoshi had dark brown hair that was half hidden by his bandana-like hitai-ate, his pale green eyes were filled with friendship and playfulness and he wore the standard outfit for a shinobi. Daichi had the regular Hyūga looks; long black/blue hair and pale eyes, he was wearing a pale short sleeved jacket, black knee-length shorts and black shinobi shoes, he was quite quiet, strict and usually glared at the Raikou. Akane also had the usual Yamanaka looks; long blonde hair and blue eyes, she was wearing a light blue long-sleeved top with a white knee-length skirt with shorts underneath and blue shinobi shoes, the girl was happy a lot and seemed to be the one who would hold the team together when things got rough.

"So this is my team, huh? Well, I'm Yabuki Hideyoshi, my likes are meeting new people and making friends, my dislikes are traitors and cowards and my hobbies are gardening, believe it or not, and training. My dream is to train you three to be the best you can be. How about you next, Daichi?"

"My name is Hyūga Daichi, my likes are training, my dislikes are jutsu-stealing morons and the seal that has been put on the Branch family and my hobbies are training to become stronger and studying. My dream is to get rid of that seal forever."

"Alright then, you next Akane."

"My name is Yamanaka Akane, my likes are friends and shopping, my dislikes are people who betray your trust and abandon you and my hobbies are cooking and training. My dream is to become strong so I can protect the ones I love."

"Nice. Lastly, you Saeko."

"My name is Raikou Saeko, my likes are training and decorating my father's grave in flowers, my dislikes are idiots who can't let go out something so petty and cowards and my hobbies are mastering my family's jutsu and training with my Ojisan. My dream is to seek out the one responsible for setting the Kyuubi on our village and slaughtering most of my clan."

* * *

_I never knew that the day I met my team would be the start of something horrendous. I vowed that on that day, I would never let anything happen to them, even if I didn't particularly like one of them, and keep everyone alive. I never knew that nothing that good would ever stay the same._

**Sukoshi = Little **

**Otousan = Father **

**Okaasan = Mother **

**Ojisan = Uncle **

**A/N: Well, the prologue to my new story is finished! Just in case you never caught on, Saeko is three years older than Naruto, so that's why the classmates are different. I promise you that even though Saeko will get quite a bit of story time, she is NOT going to be a Mary-Sue, she is a good kunoichi, but she's not a prodigy like Kakashi or Itachi. Some suggestions would be brilliant and I consider everything given to me, especially pairing ideas! Even though I prefer yuri, I guess I wouldn't mind having a straight pairing. **

**SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN CHOICE! **

**Just a warning about the pairing, don't suggest anyone already mentioned because they won't be sticking around, if you get what I mean.**


End file.
